It may have been an unusual sight—an elder statesmen from the Beat Generation hanging out at Mabuhay Gardens at the height of punk, taking pictures of bands like Negative Trend and slam dancing with teenagers. But Bruce Conner was restless and the energy of punk invigorated him. For MONGOLOID (1978), the short film Conner began preparing after seeing Devo on their first tour, Conner spliced together newsreel, educational, and b-movie footage which resonated with their satirical lyrics about an underdeveloped man-child determined to fit into and positively contribute to mainstream American society. Gerald Casale discusses meeting Conner in Los Angeles and finding political and aesthetic common ground with Dada and Constructivism. 

 

Director: Chris Green. 

Producer: Matthew Shattuck. 

Executive Producer: Chris Green, Noah Khoshbin, Emma Reeves, John Toba. 

Editor: Curtis Tamm. 

Director of Photography: Curtis Tamm, Peter Kirby, Kaitlin Dixon, Kevin Southworth. 

Assistant Camera: Eugenia Barbuc, Morgan Kessler. 

Music Clearances: Colby Trane. 

 

Interviews: Toni Basil, Gerald Casale, David James, Bruce Jenkins.

 

Film: MONGOLOID by Bruce Conner (1978, 16mm, b&w/sound, 3.5 minutes) Courtesy and (c) Conner Family Trust. 

Louder, Faster, Shorter (1979, 16mm, b&w/sound, 20 minutes) Director: Mindaugis Bagdon. Courtesy and (c) Mindaugis Bagdon. 

 

Photography: (c) 2013 Conner Family Trust/ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, Courtesy and (c) Robert Matheu

 

Music: "Mongoloid" Written by Gerald V. Casale, Performed by Devo, Published by EMI Virgin Songs, Inc., obo EMI Virgin Music Ltd and Devo Music (BMI) (c) Recombinant Music 1977.

 

Special Thanks: Conner Family Trust, MOCAtv, Emma Reeves, John Toba, Jean Conner, Michelle Silva, Toni Basil, Gerald Casale, David James, Bruce Jenkins, Michael Kohn, Todd Wiener, Terry Riley, Dean Stockwell, Robert Matheu, Hugh Brown, Mills Moran, Karl Puchlik, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, UCLA Film & Television Archive, USC School of Cinematic Arts, The Dennis Hopper Art Trust, The Getty Research Institute, Michael Kohn Gallery, Artists Rights Society, OHWOW Gallery. 

 

Dedicated to Bruce Conner, November 18, 1933 - July 7, 2008. 

 

Produced by Dissident Industries Inc. 

www.dissidentusa.com

 

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